


You're not your dad

by awesome_goddess_of_mischief



Series: Angsty Tony One-Shots [16]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Asshole Clint, But He Doesn't Mean It, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Insecurity, Kid Fic, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pre-Slash, Superfamily, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Young Peter, dad tony stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 07:24:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11054136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awesome_goddess_of_mischief/pseuds/awesome_goddess_of_mischief
Summary: Tony does his best to be the best dad his son could ever wish for.An offhand comment makes him see how much he's turning into his father and freak out.Or is he?





	You're not your dad

**Author's Note:**

> There is a little bit of Russian in this one, thanks to Google translate, the translations can be found at the end of each "part" that uses it. So you don't have to scroll all the way down for a translation ;) enjoy!
> 
> Edit: Now with good and improved Russian thanks to the lovely "Mary A" in the comments :) Thank you!

Most people thought it was the kidnapping that changed Tony. That made him swear off weapons and focus on clean energy. That changed him from the ever drunk playboy to something resembling a responsible adult.

Most people were wrong.

Of course it had been a factor, but it wasn't the main trigger. It wasn't what made Tony toss the entire content of his bar through the drain. Oh no, that had been something much more life changing.

 

Peter.

His _son._  

 

Four years ago already, Mary Fitzpatrick-Parker had left behind a three month old little boy, father unknown. Until of course, the CIA ran a DNA test and found out Tony was the father. What happened next had been a chaos of lawyers and cover-ups. Tony had wanted to keep his son, adopt him, without the media knowing.

It took years for everything to be settled completely, but Peter was his. And so Tony Stark did what no one thought he could do; he changed.

 

* * *

 

Tony became Iron Man and had Peter stay with his Great-aunty Peggy in England for a while during the massive alien invasion. They skyped every day, but it wasn't the same. Tony missed his little boy.

 

When he flew into that portal all he could think of was his son losing another parent. He tried to call Pepper, ask her to please take care of Peter. She didn't answer her phone. Tony took a deep breath and prepared to die.

 

It was quite a relief when he woke up. "Please tell me nobody kissed me." He said, even though he kind of wished Steve had done so.

 

* * *

 

Fast forward a few years, Peter was already six years old ( _Six and a quarter!!_ ), and the Avengers were all living in Tony's tower. It was... nice. Weird, but nice.

 

Neither Tony nor Peter were used to living with a bunch of people, but they quickly got used to it. Or at least Peter did. The kid loved spending time with the most dangerous people on this damn planet because why not? The six year old played with Natasha's hair, rode around on Clint's back, had Thor throw him in the air, dragged Steve to the table to draw together, and poked Bruce just as much as his dad did.

 

Of course, he still spent most time with his father in the workshop.

 

Peter loved playing with the robots, loved helping his dad out and learning about mechanical stuff. The only thing he loved more were bugs. Peter really loved bugs. Life was pretty good for the little kid.

 

* * *

 

It was a regular day for Tony when things changed. He had just put Peter to bed, they had worked on a robot dog together and almost got it to work. The boy had bargained for two stories in exchange for taking a bath, and Tony had grinned and complied. So the engineer exited his son's room with a sappy grin, a warm feeling in his chest that he always had when spending time with Peter. He considered going back to the 'shop to get some work done but decided he wanted to spend some time with the rest of his makeshift family instead. Mostly with Steve if he was honest with himself.

 

Steve was his favourite.

 

"Hey J? Where are the misfits at?"

"The Avengers are currently watching a movie in the common room Sir, they did invite you." The A.I. answered sassily.

Tony rolled his eyes but did vaguely remember hearing something like that. He made his way to the common floor and got out of the elevator just as he heard the others talk about Peter. "Hey guys, I know my kid is amazing, what were you talking about?" He asks while dropping down on the couch and stealing the popcorn from Clint.

Natasha throws a piece of her popcorn at the glaring archer while answering. "We were just talking about how much he looks like you." She explains while smiling sweetly at her fellow agent.

Tony huffs and grins broadly. "Well obviously. He's a little genius squirt."

 

Clint very cleverly decides not to throw anything back at the redhead assassin and looks at Tony instead. "More like how he's being raised in a workshop with a screwdriver in his hand. Just like his dad." Barton points out, focusing back on the movie and not noticing the way Tony pales.

Steve does though. "Tony? Are you alright?"

 

Stark brushes it off, willing himself to calm the fuck down. "I'm fine. I don't know what you're talking about HawkAss, Peter isn't raised like I was _at all_."

Clint doesn't hear the hard edge to Tony's voice and doesn't look at him while answering. "Well, not exactly. But close enough. The kid spends half his days in the workshop. Not exactly a normal six year old." He snorts. The archer suddenly yelps in surprise when Natasha pinches his side sharply. "What?" The blond snaps, looking at Tony at Natasha's glare.

 

Said genius is tense as fuck. He's clutching the popcorn bowl like a lifeline, eyes glazed over, clearly somewhere else. "Stark?" Hawkeye asks confused while Steve carefully rests a hand on Tony's knee.

"Tony? I-" Iron Man startles at the touch and looks around with a hint of panic. He gets up abruptly, dropping the popcorn, and rushes out.

 

The Avengers stare at each other in shock, before being interrupted by Natasha slapping Clint on the back of the head. "Ty durak?" She snapped in Russian. "Posmotrit, chto ty nadelal."

"What the hell did I do??" Clint asked confused and annoyed.

 

"Ya okruzhena idiotami." The Russian muttered as she took in the confused looks around her.

 

* * *

 

 

 

> _**"** _ _**Ty** _ _**durak** _ _**?" - "Are you stupid?"** _  
>  _**"** **Posmotri, chto ty nadelal**_ _ **." - "Look at what you've done."** _  
>  _**"Ya** _ _**okruzhena** _ _**idiotami** _ _**." - "I'm surrounded by idiots."** _

 

* * *

 

Tony might be freaking out a little. Just a little though.

 

He wasn't like Howard was he? Shit. _Was he?_ He never meant to force Peter down the workshop. Didn't want to force him to work day in day out to become the perfect engineer, like Howard had done to him. But what if he had done exactly that? What if Peter would grow up hating him for pushing him into his footsteps? Tony doubted he could live with his son hating him.

Not over this.

 

It would make sense that once Peter grew up and found out what Tony had done before he had been born, he would end up hating his dad. But Tony just wanted what was best for Peter. He thought it was what the kid wanted. Shit he was fucking up so badly.

 

"Fuck." He cursed out loud, running a shaking hand through his hair. There was still time, Peter was only six. Tony could still fix this. He'd give Peter a normal childhood, or as normal as he could living with the avengers. No more workshop.

How retarded was that anyway? What idiot let a six year old in a _workshop_.

 

Tony had to be a better dad than Howard, he just wanted Peter to be happy.

 

* * *

 

 

"Daddy?"

 

A small voice sounded through the speakers in the workshop. Tony put away his blowtorch and closed his eyes briefly. "What's up squirt?" He asked even though he knew the answer already. It had been a week since Tony's revelation, and each day Peter had come down to the workshop to ask to come in.

 

Tony had already sat him down and explained that the workshop was dangerous. That Peter shouldn't be there and that daddy had been a little stupid before. Safe to say Peter didn't take it too well.

 

"I was just- Daddy, when can we finish the robot dog?" The too clever six year old asked, and Tony just knew the kid was pouting.

Tony swallowed thickly before answering. "We've talked about this Peter, the workshop is dangerous. Go play with your Legos for a bit, I'm almost finished with work, I'll come join you for lunch soon alright?"

There was silence until a soft "alright daddy" was heard. Tony felt horrible, but knew this was better than the alternative.

 

Steve's voice was heard in the distance, calling for Peter. "I have to go daddy, uncle Steve promised to help me build a spaceship." And with that, silence returned.

 

Tony didn't move. He stared at his workbench while a cold ache hurt his chest. This was the best for Peter. It was.

 

But why did it feel so _wrong_?

 

* * *

 

Tony did spend lunch with his son, cutting his sandwich in something that was meant to be a spider, and watching the happy smile with relief. "How is the reading coming along kiddo?" Tony asked with a warm smile, feeling himself relax around his son.

Peter frowned a little, which was adorable but also a little worrying. "Misses Jackie says I can read in the next group." The kid muttered while breaking pieces off his bread.

 

Tony had to swallow a curse. Peter really was a clever little thing, way ahead of the children his age. Before... All this, Tony had been talking to his teacher about having him skip a class. Now he knew it wasn't a good idea though. Tony remembered how it felt to be surrounded by kids much older than him because he had been skipping classes all his life.

He never wanted Peter to be bullied like he was.

 

"That's good news kiddo, why the frown?"

Peter stared at Tony as if he was an idiot, a look the six year old was way too good at. " _Because,_ I like the kids from that group but they're not in my class." He pouted. "Can't I just go to the other class daddy?"

Tony gently shook his head and told Peter to eat his sandwich. "You should be in the class with kids your age Petey, now eat."

 

Peter pouted again but did as he was told.

 

* * *

 

Things weren't going better. Tony tried spending as much time with Peter as before, but he didn't know what to do. They build with Legos a lot, but Tony didn't know if that wasn't too close to working so he often cut that short to do something else. Like colouring, or teaching Peter how to ride a bike. Or play with his toy bugs. Normal kids stuff.

Something was missing though. When Tony went down to the workshop leaving behind a sad looking Peter. The workshop felt empty without Peter's chattering.

Even the bots seemed less energetic than usual.

 

Tony missed spending as much time with Peter. Missed showing him new things and teaching him everything the kid wished to know. He hated this. But this wasn't about him.

 

He couldn't turn into Howard.

 

He _couldn't_.

 

* * *

 

"Tony? Can we talk?" Steve asked softly, cornering Tony as he just walked out of Peter's room.

"Sure thing Cap, what's wrong?" Tony asked as he mentally hoped it wouldn't be about Peter. Tony knew he was messing up again, but he didn't know how to fix it. He just wanted Peter to be happy dammit.

"It's about Peter."

 

Of fucking course it was. "What about him?" Tony couldn't help but turn on his defences as he walked to the kitchen, Steve following him. It stayed silent for a while. Tony turned around and glared at Steve. "Just tell me Rogers."

Steve sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Peter asked me something while I was watching him yesterday."

 

Tony felt cold dread spread through his chest. Oh god. What if Peter asked Steve to take him away? What if Peter hated him? Or wasn't happy? Or- shit.

Steve saw Tony become alarmingly pale and quickly continued. "He wanted to know if he'd done anything wrong. He asked when he could go back to your workshop again."

Tony took a shocked step back, blinking in surprise as he stared at Steve with wide startled eyes.

 

Steve sighed and made Tony sit down, looking at him with warm blue eyes. "Tony, the kid loves you, adores you. You're his hero. Literally and figuratively." The Captain says softly before falling silent again with a thoughtful look on his face. "This... This isn't about that movie night a few weeks ago is it?" The blond asked carefully.

Tony couldn't help the small flinch, avoiding eye contact and nervously tapping his reactor. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Steve's eyes widened as puzzle pieces _finally_ started to fit together. " _Tony,_ you're not your father." The supersoldier said seriously and a little pained, reaching out to take Tony's hand. "Peter _wants_ to spend time in the workshop with you. He wants to learn and build with you. I'll talk to the team, mostly Clint, he shouldn't have said that and-"

"No Steve, it's alright." Tony interrupted with a frown. "He was right. Peter is _six._ He shouldn't be in a workshop. He should be out living a normal life."

Steve huffed amused. "Tony, Peter is anything but normal. The kid is smarter than I am." He said fondly, making Tony finally look up at him.

"But-"

 

Steve sat up straighter and Tony just knew the _Captain America Voice©_ would be coming out. And indeed it did. "No buts. Peter thinks you're mad at him. You're worrying, which proves you're nothing like Howard. Now go to your kid and start finishing that darn robot dog before I ask Bruce to finish it."

Tony's eyes widened and he got up and already headed to the elevators. "Nooo, Bruce is science, not engineering. He'd totally break it and-" He interrupted himself, turned around to face Steve, and glared at the taller man. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing."

 

Steve just smirked smugly. "Never even crossed my mind."

 

* * *

 

The next morning Natasha had woken up and went searching for Steve to spar with. When she heard from Jarvis that the Captain was in the workshop with Tony and Peter, her eyebrow twitching was the only sign of surprise. "Blya, ny nakonets-to." Natasha muttered as she reached the workshop and peeked inside.

 

Steve was sitting on the couch, sketching the scene before him. Tony and Peter, side by side, working on a pile of metal and wires looking like a dog. Or something roughly resembling one anyway. Peter was practically beaming as he gave his dad a lecture about colour coding wires. Tony just grinned fondly at his son with his adorable too big safety goggles that covered half his face.

They both had missed this and it was obviously visible on their faces.

 

Natasha just shook her head and muttered softly in Russian as she retreated. Those damn idiots.

 

* * *

__

 

 

> _**"** **Blya, ny nakonets-to.**_ _**" - "Fucking finally."** _

 

* * *

 

 

Tony did cut down Peter's workshop time. The kid could use some order in the chaotic life of the Avengers, so there were mostly set times during which father and son would work on fun projects together. Sometimes Bruce joined and they would make something science instead. Or Clint would show up and ask about something from a movie. The archer mostly whined about lightsabers, which, _no._ Tony was so not giving Clint a lightsaber.

Steve would almost always be there, just sitting in the corner drawing, jumping in on their conversations at times and watching Peter when Tony had to focus.

 

The engineer also agreed that yes, Peter really should skip a class because he was insanely clever. Eventually the kid ended up going to another school where there was a class for genius kids. He quickly became best friends with a smart little girl called Gwen and a shy boy named Victor. Natasha just made bets with everyone to see when Steve would finally take Tony out for a date. Her money was on next week.

 

Wanna bet?

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write this plot for ages but never felt like I could do it justice. So I hope you liked it!
> 
> Also, if I missed an important tag/trigger, please let me know!
> 
> Edit: I've edited the lay-out of the story, something went wrong with posting. Sorry to all who had to read the absolute mess it was for a little bit.


End file.
